Milestone Blog Anniversary/Giveaway

                                                                     Sunrise
 Hi Everyone,

When I started this blog my goal was to blog for ten years.  I have no idea why I picked that number, but it seemed like the thing to do. Like most people, I felt a lot of different emotions when I hit the publish button the first time. 

What I like best about blogging: the people I've met along the way.  And it's always fun to jump my blog ship and steam over to have a look at what other people are doing. I've seen so many gorgeous photos of beautiful places, marvelous gardens, wonderful animals, birds, great food, and so on.

 Anyway, to cut to the chase a big thank you to all who stopped by, left a comment, and have continued, over the years, to read and say hello from time to time. I really do appreciate you, your beautiful blogs if you have one, and, of course, all your wonderful comments.

So let the bells ring out and the banners fly because ten years rolled around in April--the 24th to be exact.  Imagine that! :)

I had a look through the archives and the following post received the most views. To view  click here

                                              

                                               Arrowhead, Sumac and Loosestrife.

               

                  In case you have trouble opening paint tubes this nifty little gadget/tube opener comes in 

                  handy. It works well, and is made by Golden. You can buy one on Amazon.

                  It opened all my stuck tubes except one; that tube has been run under boiling water, and 

                  and my son tried opening it with plyers. It remains stuck. So...I reckon it's time to toss it.

                                                                            * * *

                           Giveaway...                                       

                                                                           

Art print made from my original pastel painting. 

 Will fit a standard square 14 x 14 frame with mat 8 x 8.

                     Calla Lilies                                                          Bloodroot Wildflower

And two cards made from my original watercolours. Calla Lilies have a gloss finish and the Bloodroot is on matte paper.

If you follow along, or have been a blog hopping visitor, or are following here now or on Insta please leave a comment to enter the draw. If you would like to leave a comment, but do not want to participate in the giveaway just add Oo for opt out after your comment.

Many thanks to all of you for reading along over the years.

'Till next time...

                                              Cultivate your Dreams

                                  Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

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Summertime

                                                                        Sumacs

                                                    

    I've been away from blogging for sometime, so hello there once again. There were changes, so I needed some time away to process and deal with things. I am; however, glad to be back, and I am sending along a heartfelt welcome to all of you!

Wonderful, lately, to enjoy a few cooler days with a lovely breeze; so nice after the extreme heat of most of July. Summer breezes, to me, are a refreshing gift.  I also love to hear the breeze rustle through the rushes and to watch the wind ruffle the water. 

                                                                 

The world looks lovely and green thanks to all the rain sent down from the heavens in July.

                                                                    Purple Loosestrife

        Queen's Anne  Lace                                 Sumac                                  No quite sure. Could be                                                                                                                             Coneflower or Black-eyed Susan

                                         

                                                  

If you are in the U.S. or Europe, you may have experienced or are experiencing  smoke from Canadian wildfires.  So many are burning--approximately 880.

 In N.S. some of my family members had to evacuate, but fortunately they were able to go back to their intact homes. Not so for many others. And a month or so after the fires they were hit with flooding from unusual torrential rains. (Tumultuous weather and fires have been reported world wide this year.)

At the end of June 27.1 million acres or 11 million hectares have burned nation wide. So sad for people, and, of course, all the wildlife. 

Our forests are vast and it's nearly impossible to curtail these fires. Some are very remote, so they pick and choose which ones to fight. Of course, they suggest some areas need to burn, but 50,000 lightening strikes in British Columbia in seven days has added to the burden. Fortunately the world has stepped up; firefighters have been arriving from as far away as South Africa. Bless all those who risk everything to help out!

                                                                     

                                                                   * * *

 

A little reading...

The Covenant of Water--a heavy tome for sure with a total of 714 pages.  If you haven't already, you can watch a six part Oprah interview with the author. 

James Gurney author of the book Color and Light knows a thing or two. You can check out a preview of his book here.

                                                                           * * *

                                                                    Pastel on Claybord

This piece of Claybord was specifically made for watercolour. It has a very smooth surface, so I coated it with two coats Golden's pastel ground. I usually use Pastelmat, but I do like this rougher, textured  surface. 

                                                                     Unison Soft Pastels

This year marks many years of blogging for me. I will go into specific details next time.

Until then...

                                                 Cultivate your Dreams

                                  Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

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Spring or Thereabouts

                                                       
Hi Everyone,

 Now in the early morning, the sun lights the prisms and they dance on the wall.  And in these parts that means spring.  But from the ice and snow still about, you can see that, here in Canada, winter tends to hang on, sometimes, a little longer than necessary. But it is so wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun and enjoy longer days.

Yesterday, we went to the Sugar Bush where Maple syrup is made. What a busy spot. Too busy to hang about waiting for breakfast, and the snowy trails were over flowing with people as well.  Although there was no hope of getting served breakfast before closing time, it was nice to see everyone out and about enjoying life. 

Also made a trip to the marsh. We saw a lot of robins. They were looking for a tasty morsel or two. Not easy for them to find food just now. Unfortunately, I didn't have any raisins with me. Did have sunflower seeds for the hungry chickadees, Starlings, and the squirrels were happy to see us too.

                                                             Garden Centre Easter delights.  

                                                    All that colour! It makes my heart sing.

                 Couldn't resist buying, probably, too many plants. (Is that even possible?) 

                Absolutely love the miniature African Violets dressed up in their polka dot pots.

                                 

                        Saw painted candles somewhere, so wanted to give it a go. As you can                                                              see I got a little off course. 

                                                      

                                                              * * *

 Really enjoying the linocut printer makers art I've happened upon lately. They are amazing!

 Besides Angela Harding, John Bloor is also a wonderful printer maker. 

 A link to his Etsy shop here

                                                

                                                          Stone Harbour by John Bloor  

                                                           Couldn't resist this one. 

                                       

                                                     An inspiring book. Oh to be half so good.

                                    One of these days I will dig out my carving tools.

                           

Found this embroidery kit on Etsy. Love to knit, but, for now, this is much easier on the hands.

  Made the needle minder a few years ago from paper clay; it's finally getting used.

                                                 Watercolour on Fluid 100 paper. 

                     

Because of Blogger's fickle ways, I wasn't able to leave replies to your comments here on my last post. Perhaps this time. I do thank you all for your lovely comments. 

                               I hope you all have a very Happy Easter!

                                         Cultivate Your Dreams 

                               Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

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Fire in the Sky

                                                               

 Hi everyone,

     

Sometimes getting up early really pays. So happy to see this lovely sunrise recently. Definitely "Fire in the Sky."

 Google tells me Smoke on the Water--a song with the words fire in the sky in it was written by Deep Purple.

* * *           

Looks like Blogger is having issues. A few people have told me that they can't leave a message here, or that they had a very difficult time in doing so.

I have also tried to visit a few blogs and received a message that said something like this blog is open to invited readers only. The blogs were listed in a blog hop, so I'm sure visitors are welcome. 

I return visits so I hope they get it fixed soon! Also, if you can't leave a message and  wish to leave a comment, there is a contact form on the sidebar here.  (Hope it works.)

Started a Commonplace Book.  Not a journal per se, but a place for quotes, notes and whatever you like to write in it that you find interesting and that strikes your fancy.  So far, I have started a list of the books I would like to read this year, and also started a section for quotes. 

I do write things down in my journal, but that doesn't always make for easy access, especially if it is quite full.  ( i.e. Oh where, oh where did I write that?) 

This book is ruled and the spaces are rather large between the ruled lines. Could be smaller. But, then again, any note book will do.

 

               Assortment of dried flowers and leaves that I picked last summer. And a Primrose drawing--looking down on the potted plant.

I save the bits and dust from my pastels and then grind them down and add a bit of water to make a stick.

With no mortar and pestle, it's difficult to get a powder form, but I don't mind a few raised bits for texture and a bit of rogue colour.

  Not everyone does this, but, hey,

depending on the brands sold, one pastel stick can cost $7 to $9. 

Good pastels are made by hand.  Just pure pigment with a little binder mixed in and then hand rolled.

 

 Roche pastels from France are very expensive.  $20 euros for one in open stock. 

Cheapest listed $16.00 euros.

 Roche pastels were used by Degas. 

They are so rich and beautiful. I know this from pictures only.

They must have many secret recipes.

* * *

Meet Strawberry. She belongs to a friend of mine who owns a strawberry farm. Hence the name. I call her Miss Berry. What a darling kitty. It was love at first sight.

Birdie bookmark. 

* * *

                                     

                                          Second time reading this book. It's excellent.

                                      You can have a look at several pages here. 

Cultivate Your Dreams

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Cyanotypes and Ink Making

 Hi everyone,

Making Cyanotypes, or sun prints last summer was fun, and I am looking forward to the season ahead.

Eco printing on fabric sounds great too. I can only imagine what the kitchen would look like when I finished whipping up a batch, using fabric and leaves, bits of iron, string, alum, vinegar, and a cauldron for boiling up the whole lot. 

 For now, back to Cyanotypes.

Below a print of my Grandmother, Lilas. First printed as a negative and then placed on watercolour paper brushed with Cyanotype mixture. The sun does the rest of the work.

   

 Original picture. 

I decided not to "fix" the picture in Photoshop by removing all the nicks etc. I like it the way it is. 

My grandmother, Lilas, was a midwife. She also travelled with and assisted the doctor. If the doctor wasn't available, and he often was not, my grandmother went wherever she was called, day or night, alone. 

My mother told me that my grandmother was also called upon to "lay" people out.

Back then life was more uncertain and precarious, and I know it wasn't an easy life for a lot of people. 

My mother told me a few stories about my grandmother's life and work. ( I wrote them down.) 

I only remember seeing her a hand full of times. She was quiet, and warmth and serenity radiated out from her person.

 Apparently, Grandmother cried a lot, but she carried on, brought up a large family, and never turned  down anyone who needed help. Nor, as far as I know did she take any payment. All that makes her remarkable in my books. 

                                                                                * * *

Ink Making...

                                                       

                                                      Sumac gathered for ink making.

 Late last fall,  I decided to make ink.  So I gathered some Sumac,, but there were too many bugs in most of the Sumac at that time. This fall I will gather earlier.

        The ink turned out lighter than expected, so will make a few adjustments next year and                                                          see what happens. 

                                    Trying a dagger brush from Jackson's Art. 

Jason Logan from Toronto has a book out titled Make Ink that I have ordered. Click here to read an article about him and his reasons for making natural botanical ink.

A little greenery...

                                          Succulents living quite well on a cold window sill.

                                                            Dried  Fern and clover

Matcha Latte

Asparagus Fern...Love ferns.

No mention of books here for awhile, so…

 A Year Unfolding. 

 I admire Angela’s expressive, detailed style. She’s an amazing  artist.

Check out her website here

The sun shines on the wall now. Such an uplifting sight.

Spring has begun to stir.

Thank you for your comments on my last post. Fun to read the different opinions about the Snowman. 

Cultivate Your Dreams

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Quiet Days

Hi Everyone,

     Christmas was wonderful and January has brought with it a lot of snow, making the world both beautiful and mysterious.

     My break was enjoyable, but I didn't do a lot of painting or other art/crafts. I did, however, do a lot of reading.  Novels on the go, also looked over a few art books; plus watched art demonstrations. Perhaps I absorbed something which might, with any luck, be bubbling below the surface. Who knows? But I feel it was time well spent. I love slipping into books; they are worlds of wonder. 

“That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.” Jhumpa Lahiri

      Below a few wintry photos taken with my cell phone.

     On the trail in the woods recently, I could hear trees crashing under the weight of, first, a few ice storms and then several snow storms. With many of the trees towering 50 feet or more above my head, I soon beat a hasty retreat to more open spaces.

Snow shoe tracks.

                                                          The magic of pristine snow.
 

                              Open water.  January has been quite warm--so unusual.

T

* * *

When I was a child, the first snow always brought on the urge to build a snowman.

Often the neighborhood kids would get together for the event. If I remember correctly, the hardest part was unearthing pebbles from the frozen ground for his eyes. At that time, kids ran hither and yon to procure a hat, a carrot for his nose, a scarf, etc.  

In recent years mass produced snowmen seemed to be everywhere at Christmas. Not sure why but I find those a bit creepy.

So when I decided to  build/paint a snowman, I searched the internet for pictures of happy, sweet snowman. I found so many inspiring sweet faces.

This is what I came up with. 

One Creepy Snowman. 

    Soft pastel on re-purposed pastel mat paper.

I thought of painting a bird in the upper right area, but I guess this creepy guy can stand on his own. 

Cultivate Your Dreams

                                   Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

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